So-called vectoring or vectored data transmission is a technique for coordinated transmission or reception of data from a plurality of transmitters to a plurality of receivers via a plurality of communication connections in order to improve the transmission, for example to reduce the influence of crosstalk. Either transmitters or receivers are co-located.
For example, in DSL (digital subscriber line) transmission systems like VDSL (very high bit rate DSL) transmission systems, data may be transmitted from a central office (CO) or other provider equipment to a plurality of receivers located in different locations, for example in customer premises (CPE), via a plurality of communication lines. Crosstalk resulting from signals on different lines transmitted in the same direction, also referred to as far end crosstalk (FEXT), may result in a reduced data throughput. Through vectoring, signals transmitted over the plurality of communication lines from the central office or received via the plurality of communication lines in the central office may be processed jointly in order to reduce such crosstalk, which joint processing corresponds to the above-mentioned vectoring. In this respect, the reduction of crosstalk by coordinated transmission of signals is sometimes referred to as crosstalk precompensation, whereas the reduction of crosstalk through joint processing of the received signals is sometimes referred to as crosstalk cancellation. The communication connections which are processed jointly are sometimes referred to as vectored group.
For VDSL2, vectoring has been standardised in ITU recommendation G.993.5.
Equipment used for such vectored data transmission, in particular when a high number of communication connections like communication lines is involved, consumes considerable power. This power consumption of such equipment like DSL equipment is becoming more and more a concern for operators, customers and also for government agencies. In addition, communication lines of DSL systems are increasingly used also to provide telephone services and to provide television services, and such lines are then nearly always turned on, which increases the power consumption.